


Getting Out There

by Januarium



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Banter, David Rose is a Good Person, M/M, Meet-Cute, POV Patrick Brewer, hints of queer awakening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28409307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Januarium/pseuds/Januarium
Summary: Twenty-nine minutes after the agreed start time for the date, Patrick is aimlessly scrolling twitter—because isn’t it better to be annoyed at strangers instead of the woman who stood you up?—when a voice says, “Excuse me, are you Patrick Brewer?”The voice belongs to a tall man dressed in black and white. His expression is strange—like he’s trying to appear unaffected, but is mostly projecting anxiety—with a pursed mouth and his impressive eyebrows furrowed. He doesn’t look like he works for the restaurant and hedefinitelyisn’t the fine-boned blonde woman from the picture Suzanne showed him.“I am, yes.” Patrick attempts to hide his frustration, but the time just ticked over and that means he can finally leave and only feel a little guilty about it.“Right. Well, I uh—” the guy shakes himself a little, clearly building up to something “—I guess I just wanted to let you know that Alexis won’t be joining you this evening and, um, to apologise on her behalf? Because if she were actually aconsiderateperson she would have told you this herself.”
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 79
Kudos: 360





	Getting Out There

**Author's Note:**

  * For [petrodobreva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/petrodobreva/gifts).



> Thanks to nontoxic for reading this over for me! And to petrodobreva who in our first ever DM convo, when I asked her for meet ugly prompts, said "Lol Patrick gets set up on a blind date with Alexis." Sorry this isn't actually a meet ugly, really.

This is shaping up to be a really crappy night.

Patrick is fairly sure he’s been stood up. It’s twenty-five minutes after the time they agreed and he’s mentally set half an hour as the cut off point for just accepting it. Ten minutes ago he’d sent a text to check in, but there hasn’t been a reply.

He suspects he should feel somewhat more bothered by this than he does. He’s annoyed, but in a tired kind of way. He’s been determined to try to ‘get out there!’ as people keep telling him to do. It’s been a few months since his and Rachel’s last break up and he doesn’t want them to fall into their old pattern. It’s probably not a great reason to want to get into a relationship, but he needs some way to resist the pull of the comfort of getting back together with Rachel yet again.

This date was supposed to be with a friend of a friend. Suzanne, who set this up, is in marketing and has a very impressive ability to make you think you want something, which he’s seen her use to set other people up numerous times. It’s only sitting here, with the waitstaff sending him increasingly sympathetic looks, he realises that he’s fallen for it himself. He’d made the mistake of complaining to her how sick he is of the numb feeling that overtakes him when he stares at a series of women on his phone deciding which way to swipe.

Twenty-nine minutes after the agreed start time for the date, Patrick is aimlessly scrolling twitter—because isn’t it better to be annoyed at strangers instead of the woman who stood you up?—when a voice says, “Excuse me, are you Patrick Brewer?”

The voice belongs to a tall man dressed in black and white. His expression is strange—like he’s trying to appear unaffected, but is mostly projecting anxiety—with a pursed mouth and his impressive eyebrows furrowed. He doesn’t look like he works for the restaurant and he _definitely_ isn’t the fine-boned blonde woman from the picture Suzanne showed him.

“I am, yes.” Patrick attempts to hide his frustration, but the time just ticked over and that means he can finally leave and only feel a little guilty about it.

“Right. Well, I uh—” the guy shakes himself a little, clearly building up to something “—I guess I just wanted to let you know that Alexis won’t be joining you this evening and, um, to apologise on her behalf? Because if she were actually a _considerate_ person she would have told you this herself.”

Patrick nods, giving himself a moment to take this in. He should maybe be disappointed by confirmation of the missed date opportunity, but mostly he’s fascinated by this bizarre situation. “I see… And you’re her PA, or something? She could have just sent a text.”

The man’s lip curls and his nose flares in horror. “I am _not_ her PA, god, can you imagine?”

Patrick shrugs, because clearly he can.

“Right, yes, um, I’m actually her brother? And she couldn’t text, because apparently she lost her phone down a waterfall or something? And I just happened to be DMing her on insta to find out where the hell she was and she dropped in that she’d totally forgotten before she got on the plane to Thailand that she was supposed to have a date with ‘a cute little button Suzanne knows’. I don’t live far from here and I—well, I know what it’s like to be stood up with no explanation? So for some reason I decided the best thing to do would be to… come here.”

Patrick can feel how far up his face his brows have risen, but that explanation was quite something. Strangely, the part he is finding the hardest to believe is that anyone would pass on a chance at a date with this man. “In that case, do you want to join me for dinner?” He definitely didn’t mean to ask that, but… “I mean, I’ve heard the food here is actually pretty good and Suzanne made the booking—no way could I get a reservation without waiting months for it—so it would be nice to get a chance to try it. I think I’d feel a bit too pathetic eating here alone when the maitre’d knows I was expecting company.”

The man squints at him, obviously suspicious, but then he pulls out the chair he’s been standing next to and sits down. “You’ve heard the food here is _pretty_ good? That’s like saying Colin Firth is _pretty_ charming, or that Cher’s nineteen-eighty-eight Oscars look was _pretty_ iconic.”

Patrick can’t help but smile a little. He has no idea what outfit Cher wore to the Oscars when he was less than a year old, but he’s well-aware that Colin Firth is the best Darcy, accept no substitutes, so it was probably good. “So, what you’re saying is, ‘Yes, Patrick, I’d love to join you, how kind of you to offer’?”

The man’s mouth twists and a dimple appears that Patrick finds himself utterly fascinated by. “Mm, no. I am _pretty_ sure that what I meant was ‘Well, I haven’t been pathetic enough to accept a date with one of my sister’s cast-offs since the time said cast-off said he could get me a bit-part on Degrassi, but it seems like you’re the more pathetic one in this situation and I haven’t had good tapas in months, so I’ll accept’.”

Something in Patrick jolts at the idea he was asking him to stay as a _date,_ but he can’t bring himself to try and clarify that. “Do you really need someone to ‘get you’ a bit part on Degrassi? I thought all you had to do was be Canadian and express the vaguest interest in professional acting and it just happened. Like the tooth fairy.”

The man shakes his head, but there’s a sparkle in his eye that sends a burst of adrenaline through Patrick. He hasn’t fallen this easily into teasing someone in a long time and he’s pretty sure they’re both enjoying it.

“I’m really sorry to burst your bubble here, but the tooth fairy is just your nanny—or, I suppose, your parents? Or guardian, whoever, the point is…” David tilts his head back and forth, like maybe he’ll shake his point loose. “Actually, I’m not sure what the point is, because your parents sliding someone some money is also a great way to get a role on Degrassi, so I guess it really is like the tooth fairy.”

Patrick can’t help but laugh. He feels strangely light inside, an almost bubbly feeling in the pit of his stomach. “I’m glad we could find something to agree on.”

The man’s expression shifts; mouth quirked, brow arched, head ducking just a little so he’s looking up at Patrick through his lashes. “I don’t know, I feel like we could find _plenty_ to agree on.”

The bubbling feeling turns hot and exhilarating because he is _definitely_ being flirted with. Part of Patrick’s brain tells him that he needs to shut it down, but it doesn’t sound very convincing. “Could we agree that you should tell me your name?” He doesn’t mean to, but Patrick feels himself giving the words a suggestive edge. He’s always enjoyed flirting, the push and pull of it, but this feels like so much _more._

The man blinks, obviously not having realised he’d failed to give that information. “Mmhm, yes, of course. I’m David.”

Patrick sweeps his eyes up and down David without meaning to, like he needs to attach the name to the body. “It’s very nice to meet you, David. It was very kind of you to come here, rather than just let me figure out I had been stood up—although I’d worked that out by the time you got here.”

David’s eyebrows jump, even though there wasn’t exactly anything surprising in what Patrick had said, but he quickly schools his expression into something a bit more neutral. There’s still that hint of a smile that Patrick finds himself desperate to figure out how to draw out into a full grin.

This is going to be a good night.

**Author's Note:**

> I've found writing words pretty tough this month. I did have a holiday fic planned that will hopefully be out at some point, by which time it will no longer be seasonal, but I hope this is enjoyed in the meantime! I recommend you have fun filling in the rest of this story in your head because I'm not gonna continue it. We all know how it goes, right? 
> 
> (and sorry to Alexis, I don't want to besmirch her character, she just forgot, okay? and losing her phone on a waterfall was actually incredibly distressing because she had some really cute pictures on there and she doesn't use iCloud since that whole leak thing, so she's probably the one who deserves sympathy, actually!)
> 
> I'm also, as always, on [tumblr](https://januarium.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
